Media are invited to attend a formal, celebratory ceremony installing Kevin O’Brien, S.J., as the 29th president of Santa Clara University…

Delegates representing more than five dozen universities across the United States—including 16 Jesuit institutions— will join SCU faculty, trustees, and leadership in procession in the first such formal academic ceremony since 2009, when former President Michael Engh, S.J., was inaugurated.

Attendees will hear from welcoming speakers including Georgetown President John J. DeGioia; San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantu; Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino, and others. After his ceremonial missioning and investiture by Jesuits West Provincial Scott Santarosa, S.J. and SCU Board of Trustees Chair John M. Sobrato, President O’Brien will give an inaugural address to an estimated 2,000 guests who will fill the Leavey Center.

In the days prior to the ceremony, guests are being invited to numerous inauguration-related events, including several focused on the plight of migrants and immigrant families. That focus reflects President O’Brien’s deep commitment to vulnerable migrants and refugees, nurtured during his years as a chaplain with Jesuit Refugee Service and frequent visits to the Kino Border Initiative working with migrants along the Nogales border of Arizona and Mexico.

Among the inauguration-related events, each of which will be attended by Fr. O’Brien:

• “Separating Children and Families of Refugees.” A panel on Monday, Oct. 7, will focus on the context and history of child detentions and family separations that continue to occur at U.S. borders. Speakers will include Julissa Arce, author and immigration activist; Mimi Nguyen, attorney with Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County; and Deep Gulasekaram, Santa Clara University law professor.
• Prayer Service for Migrants. On Wednesday, Oct. 9 from 4 to 5 p.m., the campus community will join in a posada-style prayer service, walking among three campus locations in prayer for migrants worldwide.
• Clothing Drive for Migrants. All week, campus members will be encouraged to contribute to a clothing drive for migrants.

The above comes from a Santa Clara University press release.